All In:Playing the Fool(47)

"Hey, sweetie," she answered groggily, like she'd been sleeping, even though it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Mom? Can I … can I come stay with you for a while?" I asked.

"Of course you can. What's wrong?"

"I can't talk about it right now. I'll see you this afternoon, okay?"

"Okay, but are you sure you'll be all right to drive? You sound upset."

"Yeah, I'll be fine.

"See you soon then. Love you, Lace."

"Love you too, Mom."





Chapter Twenty-Six




Will



"Hey, Joe," I said when I answered my cell phone. "I'm getting ready to go into a client's office. Can I call you back?"

"No. This can't wait," he said seriously.

"What's up?"

"Lacy just left. She saw the text messages on my phone and flipped out."

"Our messages? Oh shit!" I exclaimed when I realized what that meant.

"Yeah, she knows and she's pissed. I tried to explain but she just ran out of here. She told Jess she wasn't coming back."

"Fuck."

"My security system shows that she went to my house, got her things,  then left. I don't know where she's going. Maybe Kylie's or her dad's?"

"When I finish up here I'll check both, if you have Kylie's address. I  remember her dad's," I told him, trying to think through the panic  beginning to suffocate me.

"I'll try and find Kylie's and text it to you."

"Okay, thanks."

I had to find Lacy and beg for her to understand and forgive me. I'd  tried telling myself that what I was doing was no different than being  in the same room with them, like the several times we'd all been  together, but I knew that was a lie. Those times we had her consent.  Hell, she probably would've let me watch on the cameras if I'd just  asked, but I hadn't.

Two hours later I'd been to both places and there was no sign of Lacy. I  tried to think about where else she could've gone. Then it hit me. When  Jules had been heartbroken she'd gone to our parents' house, and  specifically to our mom for comfort.

I called Joe back.

"Any luck?" he asked, when he answered right away.

"No, but do you by chance have her mom's address? Doesn't she live in Charlotte?"

"Yeah, I think she does. I don't know her address. Hell, I don't even  know her name. I'm not asking her dad because then he'll give me the  third degree. Oh, but there is someone in Charlotte that might be pretty  easy to find that would know," Joe said.

"Who?"

"Zack Bradford."

"Shit. You're right though. I'm sure I can find his address online. I'm going to head down there right now."

"Alright. Let me know how it goes," he said. "I'm sorry, Will."

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah it is. I'm the one who offered to let you watch."

"Hopefully she'll be okay after she cools down some," I said optimistically.

"Hopefully. Talk to you later," Joe said, then hung up.

...

It was starting to get dark when I finally pulled up at the huge and  expensive housing development. I cursed my luck when I saw that it was  surrounded by a six foot high, gated, guarded entrance. This was never  going to work. Regardless, I was going to at least try after coming all  this way.

Rolling down my window to talk to the guard waiting at the window I said, "Hi, I'm here to see ah, Zack."

"Zack?" the sixty-something man asked, giving nothing away.

"Yeah, Zack Bradford."

"Name?" he asked.

"I just told you, Zack Bradford."

"No, what's your name?" he asked snidely.

"Oh, my name is Will. Will Reavis."

The guard looked down at something in his booth then back up at me. "You're not on his list."

Shit.

"Right. Could you call him? Let him know I'm here about Lacy Pierce?"         

     



 

He exhaled like I'd just asked him to climb Mount Everest barefooted,  but he picked up the phone. "Mr. Bradford, sorry to bother you but  there's a young man here...he said it's about Miss Pierce," he spoke  into the receiver. "What'd you say your name was again, and how do you  know Miss Pierce?" The guard asked as though he was very familiar with  "Miss Pierce."

"Will Reavis, and I'm her boyfriend," I replied. At that the old man's eyes widened, and for a second he hesitated.

"Ah, well, Mr. Bradford, his name is Will Reavis, and he says that he's uh, Miss Pierce's, ah, boyfriend."

He nodded then said, "Yes, sir" before hanging up. Without speaking to  me again he surprisingly opened the gate to let me through.

I drove around the curving roads of the rich neighborhood looking for  the right address. When I saw Lacy's Mercedes sitting in front of Zack's  mansion I was both relieved and pissed. Ah, fuck. At least I'd found  her.

I got out of my truck and went up the sidewalk to ring the doorbell.  Only a few seconds passed before it was jerked open, bright light  spilling out, revealing a very big, and very naked quarterback. Well,  okay, he had on boxer briefs, but he was pretty damn naked.

"I only let you in the gate so that you'd see that Lacy's here, in my  bed, and passed out from how many times we've fucked," the huge bastard  said with a smirk.

He wanted to piss me off. Throw me off. And hearing all that did hurt.  But I decided not to give him what he wanted and instead went another  route.

"Oh, you mean you're the only one with her?" I asked, peeking around  him. "Because lately she needs at least two dicks, if not three at the  same time."

That surprised him, causing his brown eyes to go wide, and he didn't even try to cover his reaction.

"You're full of shit," he said. "She'd never do that."

I choked out a laugh just to get under his skin, even though my heart  was breaking. "Then you don't know her very well. This past weekend her  boss Joe, Chad and I were all with her at the same time. Ask her."

"And you don't mind sharing her?"

"Nope."

"I'm not fucking sharing her," he responded, crossing his arms over his large chest. "At least not with you."

"Well then, good luck. She sure as hell isn't going to put up with you  fucking a bunch of other women while she's not allowed to be with anyone  else."

"Whatever," he said like a bratty teenager.

"Will you just tell her I stopped by and that I'm sorry? She's pissed at  me for watching her fuck Joe on his house and office cams without her  knowing."

I could tell by the look on his face that statement shocked him too, but  he didn't have a verbal response. Instead he just slammed the ritzy  mansion door in my face.





Chapter Twenty-Seven




Lacy



I'd gone to my mom's first when I arrived in Charlotte, but after an  hour I had to get out of that apartment. It was obvious she hadn't  showered or cleaned the place in days. Her small frame was thinner than  ever before, which wasn't that surprising when I noticed there wasn't  any food in the refrigerator. There were plenty of empty pill containers  and liquor bottles scattered around though.

I cleaned most of the trash up and then went grocery shopping to fill up  her refrigerator and pantry. I even cooked her favorite, fettuccini  alfredo, but she stayed in bed and didn't touch a bite on the plate I  carried to her room.

Leaving her apartment, and not sure where else to go, I came to Zack's. I  just wanted someone to comfort me and let me vent. Instead, Zack  quickly discarded my clothes and offered the only thing he knew. So I'd  let him fuck me any way he wanted, trying to forget how Joe and Will had  hurt me. It hadn't worked.

When Zack got a call about a visitor at the gate, and then his doorbell  rang, the idea that it could be Will didn't even cross my mind. Hearing  his voice sent a fresh batch of tears down my face.

"Ah, so I guess you heard?" Zack asked when he came back to bed.

I nodded and swiped my hands under my eyes.

"Is what he said true? You've been having threesomes and  …  foursomes?"  he asked with a wide grin when he climbed on top of me, jerking his  boxers down and off.

"Yeah, I'm a big slut now."

"Well, it's a good thing I like sluts," he said, and then his mouth  latched onto one of my breasts. A little while later he asked, "Do you  want me to call and ask Jake to come play with us?"

"Not tonight. Maybe some other time," I responded, then I spaced out and let him have his way with me a few more times.



 …



Two weeks later I was making progress with the new and improved Lacy.  This Lacy didn't date any guys or screw them. This Lacy had a job,  making decent money as a legal assistant at a corporate law office.  Yeah, my dad had helped me get the job, but I was putting in the hard  work. I'd also found my own townhouse with a month to month lease in  case I got a callback about a job out of town. And yes, my dad had paid  the deposit and first month's rent, but I was determined to make it on  my own from here on out.